First of all, when they reported this story on NPR’s “Morning Edition” this morning, the woman interviewing the girl repeatedly called it a meteorite. Wasn’t it actually not a meteorite but a meteor when it hit her? It didn’t become a meteorite until it bounced off her foot and hit the ground.
Also, the girl was asked why she thought it was an extraterrestrial rock and she answered “because it was hot when I picked it up.” Presumably by this she meant it was hot, as if it had been heated by friction while falling through the atmosphere.
I remember reading in our old buddy The Bad Astronomer’s website that by the time meteors reach the surface of the Earth they’re no longer hot; in fact they’re quite cool.
I can’t find that at the Bad Astronomy site right now, but I’m sure I read it there once. Correct? If so, why else would the English teenager’s rock have been hot?
Here’s the entry from TBA’s site that you were thinking of: Meteroic Rise.
As for the meteor/meteorite distinction, I think once the meteor impacted something – in this case, the girl’s foot – it became a meteorite. Insisting that it has to touch the ground seems a bit extreme. Otherwise, if it had bounced off her foot and she had caught it, it would still be a meteor.
I think the bad astronomer has changed that article recently - I swear I remember reading that some small meteorites found shortly after impact are surrounded by frost, because while the outside heats up due to atmospheric friction, the inside remains as cold as deep space…which is pretty cold.
From what I’ve heard, lieu, not only did it not leave a mark, but it didn’t even hurt.
And even if we accept that it became a meteorite when it hit her foot, not when it hit the ground, then she was still hit by a meteor. Which became a meteorite at the moment of impact.
If the meteor/ite was small enough that it didn’t hurt the girl, then it was almost certainly small enough that it would have been heated through to the core, and would be hot if picked up quickly.
During the major meteor shower over North America last November, a meteor zipped by me during my walk home from work. The evening was dark and the meteor passed by about 50 yards on an arc. I heard it approaching as it exhibited an intense sizzling, crackling sound. Even more compelling was its appearance—a pulsating bright rock the color of the aptly named Comet cleanser. It sure seemed hot to me. I am almost certain that the meteor disappeared into the depths of Puget Sound about two blocks away
Can’t agree, Fiver. She was hit by a meteorite. Once it touched her, it was a meteorite; it was a meteor only BEFORE it touched her. She wasn’t struck by it, obviously, until it came into contact with her.
She was only ever touched, by definition, by a meteorite.
Also, what size was it? If it was very small, it wouldn’t surprise me if it had slowed down quite a bit by the time it hit her.
No, she was hit by a meteor. Which then became a meteorite. Meteorite is a meteor that has fallen. When it hit her, it was falling, not fallen. If it had fallen, it could not have hit her.
If a car stops when it hits you, were you hit by a stopped car or by a moving car that stopped when it hit you?
I guess I didn’t think (and still don’t) it was a big enough deal to warrant news, is it? After I “experienced” the meteor I did yell out “Did anyone see that?” out of exhilaration. My neighbor was behind me 1/2 a block and did hear me, but as he was way further downhill, he didn’t see what I did. He is a US Park Ranger and would have carried more credibility than me. Oh well, it was still cosmic.
But the car was still moving when it hit me (unless I ran into it, I guess.) Ergo, I was hit by a moving car.
A meteorite has fallen, by definition, when it hits me; IMHO, hitting anything on the ground qualifies. The car did not become a “stopped car” by definition when it came into contact with me.
